This dark comedy is as hilarious as it is heartbreaking. Clara is a trying to navigate her relationship with her new boyfriend, Tim. At the same time roommate and landlord, Joseph, is secretly filming her with the help of his girlfriend, Natalie, and friend, Damien, for a live webcam feed.
Peter and James are two charming salesmen out to sell YOU happiness. The show begins with bright lights, loud music, and two cheerful young men running in and out of the audience in an attempt to pump us up. They explain how they have the secret to happiness, while doing an impressive dance routine.
But happiness isn’t as simple as they make it out to be.
Monologues for Nobody, currently playing inside the Fringe Club at the Toronto Fringe Festival, is exactly as advertised: Participants have five minutes to perform a monologue of their choosing in the shed. Alone. As creator Jordan Mechano puts it in his description, “Like singing alone in the shower…No audience, no cameras, no pressure. Just play.” While it really was as simple as that, I didn’t expect to be so moved by the experience.
Shakespeare BASH’d has had a very good run at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Their yearly shows, 90 minutes of pared-down Shakespeare set in the upstairs room at the Victory Cafe, lend themselves to a convivial (and drink-friendly) atmosphere, and tend to sell out quickly. This year’s The Comedy of Errors is the company’s Fringe swan song; as the Bard himself said, parting is such sweet sorrow.
